A large number of companies, universities and even individuals purchase commercial equipment such as refrigerators or coolers for storing environmentally sensitive products for a variety of reasons such as experiments, research or storage. A great deal of time is spent monitoring this equipment to ensure it is functioning properly. Failure to do so could have dire consequences. The contents contained in the equipment could be destroyed if the device fails and the temperature inside becomes a hazard to the contents. Such a predicament can have significant financial burden on the owner of the equipment as well as those who have contents therein.
To help alleviate this potential threat, companies monitor the devices with a variety of means. Some solutions have been a built-in temperature gauge. The readout from the gauge can be placed on the outside or inside of the equipment. An individual, whose responsibility it is to monitor the equipment, must check the gauges to ensure operability.
However, this system or method is prone to error. For instance, if the gauge breaks and is pegged on the last known temperature, a simple reading of the gauge is not sufficient.
Furthermore, the gauge measures the overall temperature in the equipment. Some areas of the refrigerator might run colder or even warmer than what the temperature gauge is actually reporting. This could have a tremendous impact on specimens in these areas of the equipment.
Another error is that the individual monitoring the equipment cannot be on-site twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Systems break down at all times during the day. Extended periods without monitoring can be costly and damaging. To employ a system that uses a constantly staffed monitoring system would be time consuming and costly.
Finally, the products on the market today cannot predict upcoming service problems. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system that is capable of monitoring equipment on a continuous basis as well as predict possible failure, which is resolved in an efficient manner.